Ruben's Adventure
by Guardian Alpha
Summary: Ruben's a fresh youth just setting out into the world, but very soon he learns the world he lives in is a very unforgiving place.
1. Blocky World, Blocky Laws

Ruben's Adventure  
Chapter 1: Blocky World, Blocky Laws

Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft or any of the characters involved except Ruben

It was a sunny day in Muderia, the grass was sitting still, and the lakes were calm and peaceful, reflecting the sunlight from above. A small town that was surrounded by a wooden wall with a stone foundation was bustling with activity. A crowd of blocky people were gathered around and were all talking to each other around a single figure. He stood on a wooden platform and was smiling as people walked up and patted him on the shoulder or whispered something to him. He wore a simple black shirt and blue pants with gray shoes, his black eyes showed a look of determination and his black hair reflected the sunlight from above. He glanced up at the sky occasionally and a look of worry came over his face before someone else approached him and he put a smile back on immediately. When everyone except two people were finished they approached the young man. The first was an elderly gentlemen who wore a long, brown, leather, robe. He had a long white beard and a thick, white mustache. He was carrying a walking stick and leaning against it to stand.

The second person was a woman with bright red hair. She was wearing a light blue shirt and purple jacket with a dark blue skirt. She smiled at the boy and he waved back.

The old man cleared his throat to speak, the whole crowd silenced and waited for his next words. He opened his mouth and said: "Ruben, as is our village's tradition. You have lived for thirty cycles of the moon and sun. You are ready to adventure out into the world and make your own mark in the world."

Ruben, the young man, nodded and glanced up at the sky again. "As is also tradition we are to warn you of the dangers you face ahead of you, and to wish you best of luck."

"Thank you elder." Ruben said, bowing. His voice was a moderate tone and had a small sounding of a sly mind behind it.

"Oh! My little Ruben off to adventure in the world!" The woman shouted.

"Mom, you're ruining the moment." Ruben said to her.

"Sorry, sorry, go on." She motioned to the elder to proceed.

"As I was saying. The dangers of the path that lies ahead are numerous, and each as dangerous as the last. Always be prepared, and never take any unnecessary risks."

"Now that your rites have been given it is time to send you out into the world. You are to travel fifty blocks from the village walls and thereby begin your adventure."

Ruben turned on the spot and a few of the villagers switched on a pair of levers. The wall opened up as some pistons pulled the blocks apart. Ruben took a step forward and was soon out of the village. The wall closed behind him and he walked fifty blocks before looking around.

"Alright, I need to find some wood… gotta start with the basic stuff." He said to himself, approaching a tree.

He lifted his fists and began to punch at the bark until the block shattered into a tiny fragment of itself. Ruben looked at it and it jumped into his hand, he took his other hand and smashed it, lifting it away he found four blocks of wooden planking sitting in his right palm. He compressed them between both hands and suddenly a large table appeared. He set it on the ground and nodded to himself.

"Just like they taught me in school." He punched the rest of the tree down and when he had enough wood blocks he made more wooden planks.

Some he converted into sticks, and used those sticks as handles for his tools. He looked at the array he'd laid on the ground: There was a pickaxe, a shovel, an axe, a hoe, and a sword. All made of wood. He picked them all up with a sweeping motion of his arm and used the axe to chop up his crafting table for easier transportation. He then made his way through the area, looking for more trees and a suitable place to set up his base camp. He smashed the grass underfoot and occasionally small seeds appeared in his hands, he put them in his pockets without thinking about it and continued on.

As Ruben traveled through the world the sun began to lower toward the horizon and dark began to set in.

"Uh oh… I gotta find a place to spend the night." He said to himself, looking around frantically. He looked to the large mountain he'd been walking toward and saw what looked like a cave on the other side. He took off at a dead sprint toward the cave mouth. He'd only covered five blocks when a figure leapt out from behind a tree at him knocking him to the ground. A green, and decaying zombie was trying to bite him. Ruben's eyes widened as he took in the monster, its arms were held out in front of it, and some of its head was missing revealing its blocky brain. Ruben pulled his sword out of his pocket and slashed as the zombie sending it flying backward. It spat at him before resuming its charge. Ruben dodged its attacks and slashed and hacked away until the zombie fell to the ground and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Three little green orbs flew into Ruben's body and he felt all of the adventures and experience the zombie had accumulated flow through his mind. He looked around to see other dark figures in the plains behind him. He silently crept toward the mountain. He covered another fifteen blocks without incident and when he made his way around the mountain he sighed in relief. A cave was shining brightly in the darkness. He rushed toward it, forgoing his sense of stealth for one of self-protection.

He came to a stop five blocks into the cave and looked around. It was a simple cave, only twenty blocks deep, by another rough ten blocks across with a ceiling about four to five blocks high. Ruben saw a figure sitting at a table with its back turned to him. The figure had a bucket of milk in their hand. Ruben took this time to look around and saw that there was a fire burning inside a brick chimney in the back center of the cave, and a bed was tucked into the left-hand corner. Closer to him was a stack of bookshelves and across the room was a double chest, with a furnace placed in the opposite corner of the bed. The figure and his table were closest to Ruben on the side with the bed and bookshelves. Torches lined the walls all around.

"Um… excuse me." Ruben said, making the figure jump, "I was hoping I could seek shelter in your cave until morning?"

The figure grunted as he stood up and turned to look at Ruben. He was a gruff looking man with a brown beard and mustache, he wore a leather tunic over his green shirt and leather pants over his blue ones.

"Get out." He said.

"What?" Ruben asked.

"Get out."

"Please, I just want to stay the night. I don't mean any trouble."

"Get out." The man repeated for a third time, drawing out an iron sword.

"O-ok, I'll leave." Ruben said, holding up his hands and backing out of the cave.

The man continued to stare at Ruben until he was out of the cave and down the hill at the base of the mountain.

"What do I do now?" he asked himself, looking around and holding his sword with both hands.

A tower-like creature was now walking toward him. It was a mix of greens and white, glaring at him it continued to close the distance. Ruben slashed at it with his sword when it came close enough. This seemed to anger it even more as it began to hiss and swell in size. Ruben backed away quickly and was just in time as the creature exploded.

"What the-?" Ruben asked himself, looking down at the crater the creature had made.

He slowly backed away from the crater and turned to walk away. He traveled all through the night, dodging zombies, skeletons, and the new green creatures he'd dubbed 'creepers'. Soon, the sun began to rise and Ruben looked up at it, smiling. His stomach growled and he was leaning against his wooden sword which looked dented and scuffed.

"I need to find shelter." He said to himself weakly as he looked around.

He noticed he was in the middle of a forest, and not too far away was a large clearing that looked perfect for a house. He lifted himself weakly and began to walk toward the clearing. He arrived five minutes later and sighed in relief, no monsters. Just then, he heard the grass trampling behind him. He leapt back and twirled in the air to see who or what was sneaking up on him. He landed and stared ahead like it was another creeper charging him. It wasn't, instead a pink creature looked up at him with its crossed-eyes.

Ruben smiled as he lifted his sword above his head "I'm dining well tonight!" He shouted as he brought it down and slaughtered the pig.

Two raw porkchops fell out of the pig's corpse. Ruben picked them up and stored them in his pocket. Taking out his axe began to chop down the nearby trees, slicing them into wooden planks. When he had a few stacks of wooden planks he took out his shovel and dug down through the dirt layer until he hit stone, then he produced his pickaxe and began to mine away. He spent an hour underground mining the stone. He also found coal, and iron ore. When his pickaxe finally broke he returned to the surface and laid down a stone foundation. The sun was beginning to set when he finished putting up the wooden walls of his house. He used the excess wooden planks to make some stick and put coal on the end making torches which he put on the walls of his house. Settling down into a wooden chair he'd crafted himself he began to consider what to do tomorrow.

The next, Ruben woke from his sleep and mined out his wall to see it was early morning. He took a few of his extra wooden planks and crafted a door which he placed in the hole he'd mined. He also crafted two chests and put them next to his crafting table, leaving a space between them, he crafted a furnace with his cobblestone and placed it between the crafting table and the double chest. Putting his coal in it with the iron ore he left it to smelt. He crafted copies of his tools out of stone, and deposited the wooden tools in his chest. From there he left his house, closing the door behind him.

"Let's see, let's see. Food would be good, and a field wouldn't be a bad addition either. I'll need some fence posts to keep mobs and animals out of it." Ruben said to himself as he walked into the woods. He pulled out his stone axe and chopped down three trees, collecting their saplings and putting them and the wood in his pocket. He continued through the forest for a few hours, it was noon when Ruben stumbled out of the woods into a large, open grassland. He looked around and could see for miles on end, and it was then that he spotted it: A large cobblestone structure breaking the skyline. It looked like a castle. Ruben readied his sword and approached quietly, when he was up against the wall he went around, looking for a way inside. He didn't find any doors or drawbridges, but he did notice a block that was missing the grass on top of it. He dug at it with his shovel and it revealed a secret entrance. Dropping down into the hole he replaced the dirt block and went inside. The dirt tunnel was lit with torches and at the end was a ladder that led up into the castle. Ruben grabbed the rungs and began to pull himself up. He set his feet down inside the castle and looked around. He noticed a set of blocks that lined the top of the castle walls, not knowing what they were he ignored them. Proceeding into the castle to search it. Walking into the central building Ruben found himself in a large chamber that branched out in multiple directions. He chose the center path and proceeded forward caustiously.

He traveled down the torch-lined corridor for five minutes before emerging into a small room that contained a bed, a chest, a crafting table, furnace and an anvil. Ruben lowered his sword and walked over to the blocks, feeling the surface.

"It's still warm, these were used recently." He looked at the furnace to see the coals were still blazing brightly, looking inside he saw iron ore being smelted into iron ingots.

"Someone lives here." Ruben said to himself, putting a hand on his chin.

"That's right, and you better leave before that someone puts an arrow through you." A voice said from behind Ruben.

He spun on the spot to see a figure in iron armor with a bow in his hands, the arrow was drawn back to full draw and aimed ate Ruben's head.

"Wait a second." Ruben said, holding up his hands, "I didn't mean to intrude, I was just investigating what seemed like an abandoned castle."

"Well, I assure you, it's not abandoned, now get out." The stranger told him.

"I'm going." Ruben said, slowly walking toward the door, the stranger moved out of his way, but never took the arrow of the string, or Ruben's head.

He watched Ruben make his way out of the castle and when Ruben was about fifty blocks away, just inside the tree-line, he returned to the castle floor where he flipped a switch and the blocks on top of the walls Ruben noticed earlier began to spit arrows toward the ground. Ruben stared at the castle, assessing it before returning to his house.

It was starting to get dark when he arrived. He closed the door behind him as he sank into his chair and sighed. He looked around and saw the iron ingots were sitting in his furnace. He'd take care of it tomorrow he told himself before sinking off to sleep again. He woke the next morning and pulled out the iron ingots. He used them to craft a sword and a pickaxe. He put the stone counterparts in his chest along with the wood from yesterday, before setting off again. He traveled through the forest and killed half a dozen cows, pigs, chickens, and sheep. He also chopped town ten trees and collected their saplings. He looked around and saw nothing else he needed and returned to his home. He went inside and began crafting so he had two stacks of fence posts. He went outside and began to place the fence around the area, marking off his yard and house. When he was done he used the extra posts to make another fenced off area inside his property. From there he used his stone hoe to till the ground and he planted the seeds. When he was done he stood up and wiped his brow with his arm, just then he heard a noise in the wood. He turned and drew his iron sword from his pocket. Out of the trees came the man he'd met in the castle.

"What are you doing here?" Ruben asked him.

"You?" The man asked, sounding surprised. "Never mind, quick, get inside." He ran over and jumped onto a dirt block then over Ruben's fence.

Ruben made a mental note to mine that out tomorrow, it was starting to get late in the evening. The figure ran past him and into his house. He slammed the door behind him, Ruben followed him inside and when the door was shut again he looked at the figure standing before him. It was definitely the same man, he was still wearing his iron armor, but it looked dented and scratched.

"What happened?" Ruben asked.

"Endermen, left a hole in the wall." The man replied, "Damn! I should've seen that coming." He said, slamming his fist into Ruben's stone floor.

"Endermen?" he asked.

"Beings from another world, they're tall, black, and have the deepest eyes of anything in Muderia, but they hate it if you stare them in the face. It's best to stay away from them if you can."

"What did you mean when you said they made a hole in your castle wall?"

"Endermen are the only enemies gifted with the ability to pick up and move blocks like we do. They're also as smart as us, some adventurers suppose they're smarter, so smart what they do doesn't seem rational to us, but they have a reason. They speak in these strange noises, and again, some Adventurers consider this a language that no one understands. They teleport when hit or spotted, or when they touch water, stuff seems to hurt 'em." The man explained.

"And so they moved the blocks in your wall and then what?"

"The usual, Creepers decided to move in and check the place out, they started blastin' holes in the wall when they saw me and then zombies showed up, Skeletons didn't take long after that. Spiders were starting to gather around when I disappeared into the woods. Figured they didn't see me."

Ruben had stopped staring at the man and was now staring out the hole he'd left in his house as a window, a black figure was standing in the whole, and suddenly the bottom of the wall was grabbed by a pair of long black arms and it was ripped from its place.

"Sir! Is that the endermen you spoke of?" Ruben asked, readying his sword.

The man turned and saw the figure. "That'd be it!" he shouted, drawing his own iron sword and charging it.

He slammed into it with tremendous force, Ruben noticed stars flew off the sword when he struck the enderman. It dropped the wooden planks and disappeared, releasing a sound like a wheezing cough as it did so.

Ruben took out his axe and mined the block, he and the stranger went back through the hole in the wall before Ruben replaced the block.

"What's your name anyway?" Ruben asked.

"My name? It's Jack."

"Jack… not _the _Jack."

"What do you mean _the _Jack?"

"The village I'm from, they talk of a man named Jack, who came and built the wall for us to keep us safe. That was about fifty cycles ago."

"I assume you weren't around yet?" Jack asked.

"No, I'm only thirty cycles old." Ruben replied.

"Thirty cycles!? And they sent you out with nothing but the clothes on your back?"

Ruben nodded which made Jack sigh, "Alright look, uh-"

"Ruben"

"Ruben, I did put a wall up around a village a few cycles back, before I made the castle you found earlier. I was still a wandering adventurer back then. Look, can I ask you a favor, I know I'm not in the best position to, but could I spend the night here, I'll be gone by morning, and I'll have left the area by noon."

"Don't, stay as long as you like." Ruben said, "You're a hero to my village, and it'll make for quite a story when I return saying I helped the great Jack."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Ruben nodded, "I just got enough wool today to make a few beds. Let me get them ready."

He walked over to his crafting table and laid out the wool and grabbed a few planks from his chest. Jack watched him with some curiousity. _"Sent him out with thirty cycles of age and nothing but his clothes, seems he's a fast learner though."_

"Done." Ruben said, putting the beds down across the house from each other.

"Not bad kid." Jack said, pushing on one of the beds with his hand, testing its durability.

"I just did what they told me to do in school."

"School? You were taught how to survive out here?" Jack asked.

Ruben nodded again, "It's tradition in my village to train our young men to travel out at thirty cycles of age and adventure across our great world."

Jack sighed, "Thirty cycles just seems so young to me."

"Why? When did you set out?"

"Thirty cycles, like you, but I had no training. I was running." Jack said.

"Running? From who?"

"The Griefers." Jack said, looking up at Ruben with castaway eyes.

"They attacked my village, a group of adventurers who enjoyed causing harm to others. Taking their belongings and the things most precious to them. They killed my parents and took everything we owned. I managed to escape from the village as they burned it to the ground. Since then I ran, and continued running until two weeks ago when I made that castle, now it's gone too."

Ruben's eyes went from curious to determined. "We'll make a new castle, a better castle." He said.

"No Ruben, I'm done running. I'm ready to let it end. I've been around far longer than I should've been… but enough of this talk. Let's get some sleep."

The two of the crawled into bed and slept the night away, awaking refreshed Ruben noticed Jack was missing, a book and quill were placed on his bed. Ruben picked them up and read:

_Dear Ruben,_

_Thank you for your hospitality, but I've got to make my own path and not get you caught up in my troubles. I left a present for you in your chest. I hope it helps._

_Signed,  
Jack_

Ruben put the book and quill in his pocket before opening his chest, a diamond block was sitting in the chest. He picked it up and gazed at it in amazement. He took it over to his crafting table and broke it down into 9 diamonds. He made them into a sword, a pickaxe, and boots. Slipping into them and spinning his sword experimentally he put it away on his back. He left his house and set out into the woods, coming across creepers, skeletons, spiders, and zombies he dismissed them easily with his sword. When it was beginning to get dark he returned home: in the day's events he'd managed to capture two cows, two sheep, and two chickens with the wheat and seeds he'd farmed from his field.

Sleeping away the night in his bed Ruben awoke to a horrific sight, the forest was on fire. He rushed out of his house and looked out into the woods to see fire was engulfing everything.

"Who did this?" he asked.

Without thinking he rushed back inside and unloaded all of his important items into his pockets. He picked up his bed and stored it in his pockets as well, checking to make sure he didn't leave anything useful behind. He noticed the corner of his house had caught fire. Rushing outside and opening the cages and letting the animals out. He continued into the trees and kept running until the light of the fire had faded and he didn't stop or look back.

When he finally stopped he bent over and put his hands on his knees and was gasping for breath.

"Things are gonna get a lot more difficult from here… I need to find a better place to stay…" Ruben said looking around, he spotted a bulge in the horizon some distance away. "That looks like something…"

He began to walk toward the object, hoping it was something worth-while.


	2. Weird Encounters

Ruben's Adventure  
Chapter 2: Weird Encounters

Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft or any of the concepts involved with it.

Ruben ran up to the bulge in the horizon and found it to be a small hill, at first glance it was nothing special, but then he noticed a wooden door in the side. He cautiously approached and looked through the small window. A crafting table, bed, and furnace were inside, and the furnace was glowing with warmth and heat from something being cooked inside. He opened the door and readied his sword before going in and looking around. In the bed he found a familiar figure sleeping before him.

Jack was sleeping peacefully when he heard someone open his front door. He immediately sprang from bed with an iron sword in hand he swung down on the intruder. Ruben's reflexes kicked in and he blocked the strike with his own diamond sword. Jack's eyes widened as he realized who it was.

"Ruben?"

He backed away and removed his blade, sheathing it on his back.

"Yes," Ruben replied, putting his sword away.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked,

"The forest I was living in burned down, someone or something decided to try and kill me," Ruben told him.

"I doubt they were aiming for you," Jack said as he walked over and sat down on the edge of his bed.

He looked up and seemed to be staring past Ruben. His eyes dilated as he saw it was day-time outside.

"What is it?"

Jack shook his head and looked at the stone floor of his house. "Nothing, I thought I recognized something,"

Ruben remained silent and stared at Jack while the adventurer stared at the floor.

"I think we should team up," Ruben said suddenly.

Jack chuckled, "What makes you think that's a good idea?"

"You know more about this world than I do, but I seem to be good at staying alive, and those mobs seem to like sneaking up on you, a second pair of eyes to guard your back wouldn't be a bad idea,"

Jack thought about it for a minute before nodding and standing up, "Alright then. If you're sure this is a good idea then let's put it to the test. I found a store of diamonds down below, the only problem is I'm not the only one, some other adventurer has laid claim to it, but both of us are at a stale-mate because we can't seem to get rid of the other guy,"

Ruben nodded to show he understood, "You want me to cover you while you mine the diamonds,"

"Bingo, you're catching on pretty quick kid," Jack said as he reached into a chest hidden behind his bed.

He pulled out his iron suit and fitted the repaired parts onto his body before spinning his sword and grabbing his pick from nearby.

"Ready?" he asked.

Ruben nodded before following Jack into the depths of the world. The pair proceeded down the tunnels marked by Jack as the correct way, along their trek they were attacked by Zombies, Skeletons, an occasional creeper, and a spider. Ruben easily dispatched them and Jack was surprised as the young adventurer's skill with a sword. Eventually they found the diamond reserved Jack had been talking about.

"Alright, here we are, make sure nothing sneaks up on us," Jack said before digging in with his iron pick.

Ruben turned on the spot and put both hands on the handle of his sword. He watched to make sure nothing was coming at them when suddenly a glass vial flew through the air toward them.

"Get down!" Ruben shouted as he covered his face with his free arm.

Jack ducked down and a wave of purple energy burst from the shattered bottle and Ruben felt his body surge with pain.

"Ah!" He shouted as he felt the muscles in his body tense up for a second.

Suddenly a figure appeared in front of him and he barely blocked with his sword. The figure was wearing a suit of leather armor and wielded a stone sword; Ruben noticed a series of glass bottles on his belt.

"Watch it! The guy has potions!" Jack shouted from behind him.

Ruben went to kick the stranger but he leapt back, disengaging their sword. Ruben ducked into a fighting crouch, his free arm out behind him, his sword held before him in a ready stance. The figure reached for a potion on his belt and held his sword out before him. Ruben noticed the curved tip of the bottle.

"Jack! What kind of potion is that?"

Jack looked up from mining, "Splash potion of Weakness, you let that stuff get on you and your muscles will be so weak you couldn't mine a block of grass!"

Ruben nodded as the figure tossed the potion toward him. He leapt back as it hit the stone beneath them and the wave spread out, he slid to a stop next to Jack as the potion dispersed. Ruben looked back to see Jack get the second diamond out of the earth. He noticed that Jack had laid his sword aside to get a better grip on his pickaxe.

"Gonna borrow this," Ruben said as he grabbed the iron sword.

"Hey!" Jack shouted.

Ruben rushed forward with both swords at the ready, the figure didn't expect this and went to reach for a silver potion with a flat top on his belt, but Ruben immediately put him on the defensive and didn't give him a chance to reach for the potions on his belt. The stranger was an experienced fighter, but without his potions his equipment was severely under matched compared to Ruben's and eventually the stone sword he was using broke and he took two hits from each of Ruben's swords which broke his armor into pieces. He fell to the ground and put an arm over his face to protect him.

Ruben pointed the diamond sword at him, he was gasping for breath.

"Do you yield?" he asked.

The stranger nodded, at this point they both realized the figure was a woman, her hair was long and brown, her shirt was silver and revealed a bit of her chest. Her pants were the simple blue of most adventurers.

Ruben sheathed the sword and offered his hand to her, she took it and he pulled her up.

Jack finished mining the last of the diamonds and nodded with satisfaction.

"Come on Ruben, we're out of here," he said, walking past and taking his sword back.

"Wait Jack, what's your name?" he addressed the stranger.

She looked surprised, "Sarah," She replied cautiously.

"Sarah, would you like to join us?" he asked,

"No, no, and in case you didn't hear; no," Jack said.

"Why not?" Ruben asked.

"In case you didn't notice she tried to kill us both!" Jack shouted at him.

"I was on pay from someone else, someone who will come after me and you two now that you have those diamonds," Sarah explained.

"Who?" Ruben asked,

She remained quiet and averted her gaze.

"Come on," Jack said in a disgusted tone.

Ruben waited for Sarah to follow before going after his friend. The trio continued through the tunnels and before they made it more than 50 blocks they noticed a large group of mobs ahead.

"Here, drink these," Sarah said handing them two silver potions with flat tops, she pulled out for herself and removed the cork.

"What if they're poison?" Jack asked,

"They're invisibility potions," Sarah said as if this should've been obvious.

She downed her potion and disappeared. This was enough proof for the guys as they downed theirs and disappeared as well. They wove their way through the crowd of mobs and escaped safely, the potion wore off eight minutes later when they arrived at Jack's house. He sealed off the tunnel with some spare cobblestone he'd mined and the trio sat down around his furnace. Jack took the diamonds he'd mined and made the rest of a suit of diamond armor, minus the boots, and used the last two to make another diamond sword. He gave this all to Ruben.

"What?" he asked.

"If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have this stuff, you should get it," Jack said.

Ruben nodded his thanks before putting it all on and holding both swords experimentally. He swung a few double strike combos and before sheathing them on his back, the two swords formed an X. Jack looked to Sarah as she set up a small stand with a blazing rod in the center.

"What is that?" Ruben asked,

"Brewing stand," Jack and Sarah replied at the same time,

"I'll let our alchemist friend explain," Jack said as if this was an offensive subject.

Sarah glared at him before turning to Ruben, "A brewing stand is used to make potions like the ones I use. The ingredients are rare and hard to find, but the rewards are well worth it if you know how to work with them,"

Ruben nodded his understand, making a mental note to ask Sarah to teach him some of the basics of alchemy later when they had the time.

"So what's the plan now Jack?" Ruben asked turning to his friend.

Jack was packing up his tools and when he destroyed his hidden chest the room seemed barren compared to when Ruben had found him.

"We move on, this guy Sarah mentioned doesn't sound like the kind of guy I want to meet," He walked past them and broke down his door.

He left the room; the other two looked at each other before Sarah sighed and picked up her brewing stand and followed Jack out. The trio traveled through night and day for three cycles. Ruben defended them from monsters with his new Dual Wielding skills while Jack provided support with his iron equipment, Sarah would give them enhancements with her potions to help make things easier. After the third cycle the group was tired of moving and wanted a place to call home, but so far there hadn't been a defendable place for them to set up base. Jack refused to build one from scratching saying that it would take too long and Sarah's contractor would most likely catch up to them. Sarah was running low on potions and their food supplies were also dwindling.

It seemed Notch smiled upon them as they discovered a large mountain that seemed to have a network of caves deep into its surface. Jack looked back at Ruben and Sarah;

"Ruben and I will go down below, I'll leave you my pickaxe and you set up an entrance way," Jack ordered.

The pair nodded, Jack tossed Sarah his pickaxe and she went right to work. Ruben followed Jack down into the pits of the mountain. They traveled past lava flows, multiple veins of ore and eventually found a square room made of cobblestone, but it had been placed there so long ago that mold and moss had grown on its surface.

"Hold up," Jack said as Ruben stepped forward to walk into the door, "That's a dungeon, you walk in there without a plan and you're a dead man,"

Ruben turned to face Jack then, "What's your plan?"

Jack pulled out a stack of torches in his off-hand, "The reason these places are so dangerous is the monster spawners that are located inside,"

"Monster spawners?"

"Yeah, they're cages that hold monsters in them; they release the creatures every so often when someone gets close,"

Ruben turned on his heel as he heard a multitude of Zombie groans. Four zombies walked out of the hole in the wall and Ruben went to work, he slashed the first one with his right hand while blocking a second with his left. Jack stabbed one in the chest causing it to topple. Ruben dispatched the one he blocked with a quick double strike before blocking the last two, Jack slashed one down the chest, its companion looked at its dead friend giving Ruben an opening which he used to kill it.

"That's a lot harder without Sarah's potions," Ruben said as he sheathed his sword and felt the monster's experience flow into him.

"We shouldn't be so dependent on those," Jack said before walking into the dungeon.

Ruben followed him in and saw the spawner, as Jack had described it looked like a small black iron cage with a miniature flaming zombie inside. It had torches on all four sides and one on top giving the room light to keep the monsters at bay. Jack was already searching one of two chests that were in the room. Ruben walked over and looked into the second one, inside he found two diamonds, four pieces of a black ore, and a book.

"What are these?" he asked Jack holding up the black pieces.

"Obsidian, strongest material in the world, unfortunately no one's found a way to make them into tools yet, so we're stuck with diamonds,"

Ruben nodded before pocketing the materials, they heard a groan from nearby, not like a zombie though, this one sounded human. They looked through another hole in the wall and before them was a downed figure, he wore a suit of glowing iron armor and the sword he was leaning against also shone with a purple aura around it.

"Are you ok?" Ruben asked him,

The guy looked up to see Ruben and Jack, he groaned as he stood up and readied his sword, "If you want to come at me, then come on!" he shouted.

Ruben looked to Jack who shook his head, "We don't want to fight you,"

"Then what are you here for?" the guy asked.

"We're on the run, from an assassin. He's after a friend of ours up on the surface,"

"This assassin, do you know what he looks like, what his name is?" the stranger asked.

They shook their heads.

"Do you mind if I talk to your friend?"

Ruben nodded, "By all means, if she'll allow it,"

The guy sheathed his sword and approached them, "You wouldn't happen to have any food on you?"

Ruben produced a stack of pork chops and handed them to the stranger who ate three of them before sighing in relief. He handed the rest back to Ruben and signaled he was ready to proceed. The pair finished looting the dungeon and led the way back to the surface, there they found a wooden door waiting for them. They opened it and found Sarah with three beds along a wall, a crafting table, furnace, brewing stand and double chest along the other, a small alcove had been mined out, for what Ruben guessed as a training dojo.

She noticed them come in and smiled as she pulled out a few steaks. They'd killed about three dozen different animals on the way here and she seemed to be putting their loot to use.

"Who's this?" She asked seeing the newcomer.

"We found him down in the earth, he seemed interested in that assassin that was chasing you," Ruben explained.

"I wished to know his name," The stranger clarified.

"His name is Martin, he uses those around him to reach his ends and doesn't care what happens to you if you don't succeed for him, but his being an assassin makes it difficult to run away,"

"I know him, he used me like he did you," The stranger said, "He asked me to come down and grind at the monster spawner your friend found and to enchant his equipment with some of the highest degree of skill around, so that he would be a better assassin, he paid me with the armor I wear,"

"Enchanting?" Ruben asked,

The stranger nodded, "Putting magic into your armor, weapons, and tools to make them perform better than a standard piece. When you access the book on an enchanting table it offers you a list of options in strange lettering, most adventurers don't have time to memorize and decode this language, I wasn't one of them. I spent ten cycles to understand the language and can now read it to put the enchantments on weapons and armor without fail,"

Ruben nodded, "What's your name?"

"I am Paul, an enchanter,"

"Bah!" Jack shouted.

The trio looked at him as he leaned up against a wall. He looked like he'd been insulted and then ignored, his face was contorted in rage.

"What's wrong?" Ruben asked,

"These two, and their magics. Her alchemy and his enchantments, nothing beats the feel of good old fashioned iron and flesh," Jack said,

"You seem to forget Spellblades and Alchemists would hold an advantage over you old timer," Paul told him.

"Spellblades?" Ruben asked,

"Warriors who pay for their equipment to be improved with magics, they're a selective breed and usually very rich," Paul explained.

"I traveled with one for a while, was a brat who didn't understand the meaning of the world survival," Jack said, "Nearly got us all killed,"

"I'm not like that," Paul replied, "I understand your reasoning, one of your cycle count would be wary of the newer findings and research,"

Jack scoffed before going to the work area. Paul looked to Ruben and nodded as he examined him,

"You strike me as a warrior sort, but I sense you have a thirst for knowledge?"

Ruben grinned, "Yeah, I started out knowing barely anything, but Jack's taught me the basics and Sarah's taught me about alchemy,"

Paul nodded as he considered this, "Then allow me to enchant your equipment and to teach you about enchanting,"

"Didn't you say that required a special table?"

"Alas it does, and I have no such table,"

"What's needed to build it?"

Paul listed the ingredients and Ruben recognized them as the exact pieces in the chest he'd found. He handed them to Paul who gazed at them before rushing to the crafting table and began working. Soon he pulled out a black table with a red tablecloth, the corners the color of diamonds, a book floated above the center of the table. He set it down in the middle of the dojo. He approached Ruben and held out his hand.

Ruben took off his armor and gave him his two swords. Paul took the equipment over to the table and began to place the pieces over the book and Ruben watched strange symbols flow out of the book into the equipment giving it a purple sheen like Paul's armor. Sarah approached Ruben and handed him a few potions.

"What are these?" he asked.

She pointed to a crimson colored potion. "That's a Strength Potion extended, it's not as potent as some of the ones I used on you guys, but it'll last up to 8 minutes,"

She pointed to a light blue one and then a red one.

"The blue one is swiftness, you'll be able to see farther, run faster, and jump higher for 8 minutes as well, the red one is a healing II potion, drink that and you'll almost always restore your health to full unless you're about to die."

He nodded his thanks to Sarah as Paul approached. He handed Ruben back his gear and Ruben put it on.

"Your suit is enchanted with some extra protective enchantments so you won't take as much damage as before, and your swords have a magically sharp edge to them so they'll deal more damage," Paul explained.

"Wow, thank you," he said to his companions who nodded.

"If you guys are done I think we should sleep for the night," Jack said.

The group followed his orders and went to sleep, Sarah handed Paul some extra wool and planks, he made his own bed and set it down next to the others before sleeping with them.

Meanwhile a figure was watching from the woods, it turned and disappeared into the shadows, a wolf and ocelot seemed to follow him.


End file.
